Canadian media and telecommunications player Cogeco Communications has signed on the dotted line to buy the activities of Pennsylvania-headquartered cable television services provider MetroCast.

Under the terms of the agreement the buyer, which will conduct the purchase via its Atlantic Broadband unit, will pay around USD 1.40 billion for the assets.

Of this amount, USD 315.00 million will be financed via an investment from Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

Commenting on the deal, Cogeco chief executive Louis Audet said it would enable the company to grow its presence in the US cable segment while enhancing its customer base in attractive markets adjacent to those in which it is already present.

Completion of the acquisition is expected to follow in January of 2018, subject to the green light from regulatory authorities and other customary closing conditions.

Metrocast is currently owned by Harron Communications.

Cogeco claims to be the eighth-largest cable operator in North America; in the US it operates under the Atlantic Broadband name, while it is active as Cogeco Connexion in Canada.

The company has 16 data centres and over 50 points of presence in North America and Europe.

Cogeco posted revenue of USD 2.18 billion in fiscal 2016, up from USD 2.04 billion over the preceding 12 months.

The firm recorded a loss of USD 190.00 million for the year, compared to a profit of USD 258.00 million in FY 2015.

According to Zephyr, the M&A database published by Bureau van Dijk, there have been 577 deals targeting telecommunications companies announced worldwide since the beginning of 2017.

The most valuable of these was worth USD 12.40 billion and involved Idea Cellular agreeing to pick up Vodafone India. Completion is slated to take place at some point during 2018.

Others in the sector to have been targeted since the start of January include 1&1 Telecommunication, Drillisch and Vodafone Kenya.